On January 28, 2013 the entire world was watching Manchester United, the return of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer the return of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie and most of all the debut of Manchester United’s newest addition Juan Mata Garcia or the Special Juan as United fans are beginning to call him.
On January 28, 2013 the entire world was watching Manchester United, the return of Ole Gunnar Solksjaer the return of Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie and most of all the debut of Manchester United’s newest addition Juan Mata Garcia or the Special Juan as United fans are beginning to call him.
It took all of six minutes for Mata to make an indirect impact with a pass that found Patrice Evra who then laid off the ball for Ashley Young to cross to Antonio Valencia whose header hit the bar but was eventually put in by Robin van Persie who has just returned to the squad after missing eleven (11) games.
Cardiff did apply some amount of pressure to the united goal but despite their best efforts was only able to give the United fans a few heart in mouth scares. United then put the game to rest with a 20 yard strike from winger Ashley Young that secured a win for Coach David Moyes’ side and a match winning debut for Juan Mata.
The Merseyside Derby between Everton and Liverpool has always been a fiery affair, however it has taken on a more equally balanced view with the rise of Everton’s fortunes in this seasons Premier League fight. Everton arrived at Anfield flying high but were soon brought back down to earth by Liverpool’s ‘Captain Fantastic’ Steven Gerrard who scored on the 21st minute to give Liverpool the lead.
This lead was soon doubled by striker Daniel Sturridge who scored two goals in the spaced of two minutes to give his side a 3-0 lead. Liverpool’s leading goal scorer Luis Suarez then got in on the action with a goal in the 50th minute to complete the rout after which Daniel Sturridge missed a golden opportunity to complete his hat-trick when he missed a penalty in the 55th minute.
The game as good as it was, got marred due to an incident of coins being thrown from the crowd at Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. All in all another Merseyside derby and Liverpool have once more regained their bragging rights over rivals Everton.
High flying title favorites Arsenal played away to Southampton looking to secure another three (3) points and their place at the top of the English Premiere League for another week. Those hopes were subsequently dashed as a sub-par performance in the first half saw them trailing by 1 goal to nil after 45 minutes with the lone goal being a header from Jose Fonte. Arsenal came out for the second half playing with style, striker Oliver Giroud scored the equalizer on the 48th minute with a back heel and Santi Cazorla put Arsenal ahead four minutes later.
It would seem that 3 points was not on the cards for Arsenal as Adam Lallana converted Jay Rodriguez’s pass to level the game at 2-2. Arsenal was then reduced to 10 men in the 80th minute when Mathieu Flamini was shown a red card for a two footed lunge on Morgan Schneiderlin. Arsenal were then left to count their lucky stars as Southampton failed to make their numerical advantage count as the match ended 2-2 with both sides taking a point.
Other games played on the day saw Crystal Palace take a 1-0 win from a Jason Puncheon goal in a game which saw 4 yellow cards and a red card for Hull City player Allan McGregor in the 90th minute. Swansea City saw off Fulham United 2-0 with goals from Jonjo Shelvey and Wilfried Bony whilst Newcastle United without PSG bound Yohan Cabaye were only able to get a 0-0 draw against Norwich City with Loic Remy of Newcastle and Bradley Johnson of Norwich both seeing Red in the 81st and 82nd minute respectively.
In other countries Real Madrid took on Espanyol in the Copa Del Rey. The game saw a total of 8 yellow cards and one red card resulting from 2 yellows for Espanyol player Victor Sanchez Mata and a solitary goal by Madrid striker Jese Rodriguez which saw Madrid taking a 2-0 aggregate win.
Writer: Lynford Harris
Photo: Juan Mata (Getty Images)
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